Police investigate bluebird killings

Two tree swallows sit atop a bluebird box at the Wilson's Mill parking area in Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg. This box is empty but another nearby is occupied by tree swallows. Ed Escalante says tree swallows keep other birds and predators away from the boxes they use, and at the same time they protect nearby boxes housing bluebirds.

House sparrows and European starlings may no longer be the biggest threats to eastern bluebirds in upcounty parks.

Over the last several months, bluebird boxes have been vandalized in Gaithersburg and Boyds. Three baby bluebirds were found dead inside one of the boxes, which provide a safe place for the birds to nest.

The migratory songbirds build nests in natural cavities like woodpecker holes but are often muscled out by house sparrows and European starlings, both aggressive, non-native species. Wooden bluebird boxes are located throughout the county park system and monitored by volunteers.

A park visitor found three dead chicks inside a bluebird box near the Lodge at Little Seneca in Boyds on May 18, according to a statement from the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, which are offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to a conviction in the case.

Maryland-National Capital Park Police are withholding further details while the investigation continues, according to Sgt. Lauryn McNeill, a park police spokeswoman. She said that the birds did not die of natural causes.

Several empty bluebird boxes nearby were sealed up with nails, McNeill said. Boxes were also nailed shut and removed in Gaithersburg's Green Farm Conservation Park between April 25 and May 2, she said. The boxes in Gaithersburg may have been vandalized with nail guns, staple guns and tire irons, according to the statement.

"It is unusual," McNeill said.

"The boxes aren't really out in the open because the bluebirds don't like to build their nests around people."

Similar vandalism and killings occurred at bluebird boxes at Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg last July, according to the statement.

An empty box was vandalized and dead bluebird chicks were found in an adjacent box, according to Ed Escalante of Clarksburg, president of the Maryland Bluebird Society and a bluebird monitor who collects data in Little Bennett. The dead birds did not look sick or have obvious signs of trauma and were lying on their backs, he said. Birds usually die on their stomachs or sides, he said, but it was possible that they died naturally.

"It's upsetting to all of us," Escalante said.

The Humane Society of the United States has offered more than $200,000 in reward money for cases involving the illegal hunting, killing and capturing of animals since beginning its anti-poaching program in 2008, according to Elise Traub, deputy manager of the group's wildlife abuse campaign. This is the first time the Humane Society has offered a reward in a case involving bluebirds, she said.

The maximum penalty for animal cruelty, a misdemeanor, is $1,000 and 90 days in jail. It is a federal crime to kill migratory birds such as bluebirds or disturb their nests.

Anyone with information is asked to call Maryland-National Capital Park Police at 301-949-3010.